Button registering machines



March 24, 1959 F. w. TROSKE 2,878,954

BUTTON REGISTERING MACHINES Filed Jan. 18, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Frederick W Ti'oske ATTORNEY Marc h 24, 1959 Filed Jan. 18, 1956 F. W. TROSKE BUTTON REGISTERING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Frederick W Troske ATTORNEY United States 2,878,954 Patented Mar. 24, 1959 aurronnuorsrunrso MACHINES Frederick W. Troske, Waterbury, (301m, assignor to Scovill'Manufactnring Company, Waterbury, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Applicationlanuary 18, 1956, Serial No. 559,898

2 Claims; (Cl; 218-d) This mechanism relates to a button feeding and positioning mechanism as applied to a button setting machine, wherein it'is desired to register a design on the button cap inzdefinite relationship to the garment to which it is attached.

Heretofore in button registering machines, it has been customary to feed the button to a registering station at one side of the setting punch, and either at the registering station-or in the feeding movement to the setting station to orient the button design to a predetermined position before the button reached the setting station of the machine. These former mechanisms were not completely satisfactory in that during the feeding movement of the button. from thepick-up station to the setting station there was. always the chance that the button might be moved out of its registered position.

It is one; of the ObjQCtSOf this invention to eliminate the above difiiculty by registering the button atthe setting station of the machine immediately before it is set upon the garment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description when considered-in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a central vertical sectional view of a portion of. the head of a fastener setting machine embodying my; invention with the -.parts-shown in their starting posinon.

Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing the punch in fastenersetting position and the transfer mechanism retracted.

Fig, 3; is a plan view of the back support bracket and associated button registering mechanism as it appears removed from the button machine head.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view through the orienting mechanism taken along the line 4-4- of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the portion of a machine head.

Fig. 6 is a=front view of the machine head.

Fig. 7 is an isometric view of the bracket 15, and

Fig. 8-is a perspective'view of one type of'button' adapted to be oriented in the herein described machine;

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral. 10 indicates a. button attaching machine head within which a plunger 11 operates. A setting punch 12 is'connected to the plunger 11 and is arranged in axial alignmentwith a: die 13 suitably supported below the punch 12.

A bracket 14 is attached to one side of the head 10 as by a'key14a and screws 1%. Said bracket l isupports extensions 15 of a feed track 16 for receiving buttons B from a suitable hopper (not shown). A cutoff disc 17 is associatedwith'the track extensions 15 and isv adapted'to cut. offone button at a time and permit it to drop by gravity to the lower ends of thetrack ex:

tensions 15 in the form of curved portions 15:: that serve .to guide the button into a vertical position in line with the registering station of the machine. The track extensions 15 and curved portions 15a are rigidly secured to the side and bottom of support bracket 14 and for all part of bracket 14.

purposes may be considered an integral part thereof.

The cut-off disc 17 is connected to link 18 which in turn is connected to a bell-crank lever 19 pivoted to the machine head at 19a. The opposite end of the lever 19 is provided with a pivot block 20 within which slidably operates a rod 21. One end of the rod 21 is connected to a sector gear 22 by a pivot pin 23 while a compression spring 24 surrounds the opposite end of the rod 21 and is confined by the pivot block 20 and adjustable nuts 25 on said rod. The lever 19 is operated againstthe influence of a spring 26 and brought to a stop position as determined by a pin 27 attached to the head 16? and an adjustable screw 29 carried by said lever. The cut-off disc 17 is rotated to a stop position by reason of an integral stop projection 17a adapted to abut a fiat face 42a at one end of extension arm 42 (see Fig. 5). After the cut-off disc 17 is brought to a stop, further travel of the rod 21 can be eifected through the compression spring 24 without any movement to lever 19. Furtheimore, in case the cut-off disc 17 should jam in picking up a button from the track 16, the rod 21 being slidable in pivot block 20 against the compression spring 24 affords a lost motion connection between said cut-01f disc 17 and sector gear 22 to prevent any damage to the machine. It is to be understood that spring 24 is made stronger than spring 26 and is compressed only when the lever 19 comes to a stop.

The orienting station is in axial alignment with the setting station of the machine and is defined by a relatively large friction wheel 28 and two smaller rotatable idler wheels 30 and 31. The wheels 28, 30 and 31 are provided with peripheral grooves within which abutton B is received by a three-point contact. The two smaller wheels 30 and 31 are positioned in front of the orienting station and are rotatably mounted in blocks 32 and 33 slidably mounted in the bracket 14 and are normally urged inwardly by leaf springs 32:: and 33:: mounted on the front of said bracket 14. The larger wheel 28 is power-driven in a mounting which is pivoted on bracket 14. For this purpose the wheel 28 is mounted on the lower end of a vertical shaft 34 rotatable in a U-shapedyoke 35 pivoted on a horizontal shaft 36 mounted in bearing 14c and extension arm 42 formed as an integral This yoke 35 is normally urged inwardly around the shaft 36 by a leaf spring 37 attached to the rear of bracket 14. This construction and the fact that the two smaller wheels 30 and 31 are mounted on spring loaded blocks 32 and 33 provides a three-point contact of uniform tension against the button B when located at the orienting station.

A beveled gear 38 is keyed to the vertical shaft 34 and meshes with a similar beveled gear 39 keyed to thehorizontal shaft 35. A spur gear 40 is keyed to the right end of shaft 36 as seen in Fig. 3. The gear 40 is meshed three locator fingers 45 so that the button can be registered in the selected one of three diiferent'positions depending on the particular position in which the button is to be set on a garment. Only one finger at a time is brought into operation and the fingers are selectively under the control of an automatic selector control member. 46. The operation of selecting one of the locator fingers is automatically accomplished when the pusher slide is moved to its outer position in a manner as fully described in the above listed patent.

The pusher slide 44 picks up a single button B from the lower portion a of the track extension 15 and carries it into the orienting station defined by the larger wheel 28 and two smaller wheels 30 and 31. In this operation the idler wheels 30 and 31 yield outwardly to permit the button to snap into position. In order to orient the button B upon reaching the orienting station, the button must be rotated about its axis, and this is accomplished by the power-driven large wheel 28. In this connection it may be stated that the buttons or the like which may be oriented with the present mechanism have engagement means or some irregular formation which bears a definite relationship to the design on the top of the button B. This engagement means may be of various types and as illustrated in Fig. 8 the engagement means is in the form of a tab or lug b extending inwardly from the edge of the cap shell of the button B beneath the head thereof. When the button is being rotated the tab b will be caught in a suitable recess or detent in the end of a locator which herein is one of the fingers spring urged upwardly against the underside of the button head and further rotation is arrested thus locating the design on the button in a definite re lationship to the garment to which it is to be attached.

Before the descent of the setting punch 12 it is necessary to disconnect the finger 45 from the button tab [1 and withdraw the pusher slide 44. In order to first disconnect the finger 45 a trip pin 47 is mounted in the slide 44 and has a cross bar 47a at its lower end extending across the top of the three fingers 45. The trip pin 47 is depressed at the proper time sequence by a presser pad 48a on the lower end of finger-release slide 48 mounted in a slot 48b on the inner face of bracket 14 and held thereinplace by a cover plate 49. The release slide 48 carries a pin 48c engaging in a slot in the end of a bell-crank lever 50 pivotally mounted on the horizontal shaft 36, and said lever 50 in turn is oscillated in properly timed relation from a rod link 51 under the control of a suitable cam on the main power shaft (not shown) of the button machine.

The setting punch 12 carries a pair of opposed button gripping fingers 52 that are adapted to pick up the oriented button B and carry it to a position directly above the setting die 13. Specifically the fingers 52 are relatively long bars that are hingedly connected at their mid-points to the punch 12 by pivot cross pins 53. The lower ends of the fingers 52 are formed with arcuate recesses 54 for embracing the rim of the button head and are normally biased inwardly to hold the fingers in closed position by a coil spring 55 positioned in a suitable socket in punch 12 and pressing outwardly against said fingers above the pivot pins 53. To hold the fingers in open position when the punch 12 is returning to uppermost position, a cam bushing 56 is fitted into the bore of the machine head 10 and the upper ends of said fingers are formed with cam follower lobes 57 that are adapted to engage the upper surface 56a of a cam bushing 56. As the punch 12 descends the lobes 57 will ride off the cam surface 56a and on to cam surface 56b which will permit the fingers 52 to pivot under the influence of spring 55 and cause the lower ends of said fingers to bias inwardly and pick up the button B in the arcuate recesses 54.

As the punch 12 approaches its lowermost travel, the finger lobes 57 will have cleared the cam surfaces in cam bushing 56 and will now contact beveled surface 58a on a pair of opposed cam blocks 58 supported in bracket 14 for the purpose of separating the lower ends of said fingers to release the button B just prior to the button setting operation.

Operations When the machine is in its normal starting position the various parts will be in the position as shown in Fig. 1 showing the feeder slide 44 in its forwardmost position with a button B fed into the orienting station. Also from the previous cycle of operations the fingerrelease slide 48 will have moved down from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 1 immediately above the trip pin 47.

When the cycle of operations starts the release slide 48 will first move down farther and depress the trip pin 47 to disengage the acting finger or locator 45 from the button and immediately thereafter the pusher slide 44 will retract and withdraw the locator finger 45 leaving the oriented button supported only by the wheels 28, 30 and 31. During the retraction of the pusher slide 44 the setting punch 12 will start down, the finger lobes 57 will ride oif the cam surface 56a on to cam surface 56b and cause the lower end of the fingers 52 to grip on to the button B and carry it downwardly from the orienting station. In this period of operation the button can readily cam out of its orienting position between the Wheels 28, 30 and 31 by reason of the fact that said wheels are mounted respectively on the hinging yoke 35 and spring loaded blocks 32 and 33. As the punch 12 approaches the end of the down stroke, the hub of the button B will be aligned with a tack T positioned on the die 13 and the follower lobes 57 will engage the cam blocks 58 and release the fingers from the button head. The final travel of the punch will clinch the tack within the button with support material S interposed therebetween in the usual manner. During this downward stroke cycle of operations the pusher slide 44 will return to the retracted position shown in Fig. 2, the cutoff disc 17 will have separated another button from the feed track and the release slide 48 will have returned to its uppermost position of Fig. 1.

During the last half of the cycle of operations the setting punch 12 will ascend and after it has passed the orienting station the pusher slide 44 will advance, pick up a button in the track extension 15a and feed it into the orienting station after which the sector gear 22 will operate and through the interconnected chain of gears drive the friction wheel 28 and spin the button B to oriented position and this completes the cycle of operations.

It will thus be seen that a registering mechanism has been devised whereby the button can be oriented to the desired position while directly under the setting punch. All three of the orienting wheels may yield laterally so that the button can be released therefrom by a straight line movement of the punch, and the punch itself carries automatically operable button grabbing fingers which prevent any mis-orientation of the button as it is moved directly downwardly to the setting station.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible of modification and change within the range of engineering skill and I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the details of construction herein disclosed, since they may be varied within the spirit of invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for attaching buttons of the kind having a design on their top face and an irregular formation on another part of the button in a definite relation to the design, in combination, a button setting punch, means including a reciprocable pusher slide for feeding buttons in turn, means for imparting an uninterrupted movement to said slide from the button-receiving position to a position where the button is in line with said setting punch, means for receiving a button from said slide and rotating the same about its axis while at said position, said receiving and orienting means comprising a power-driven friction wheel on one side of the axial line of said punch, and a pair of opposed idler wheels on the opposite side of the axial line of said punch mounted to be tensioned inwardly toward each other, and a locator carried by the References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Chilton Nov. 5, 1901 Brell Jan. 16, 1917 Hinchclifi Sept. 18, 1917 'Brell June 25, 1918 Hayden Jan. 23, 1934 Huelster July 8, 1941 Troske Apr. 29, 1952 

